Coin-return machine



, Sept. 28,1926. 1,601,108

L. cATI; ET AL com RETURN MACHINE Filed Jan. 9, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Sept. '28 1926. 1,601,108

- L. CATE ET AL COIN RETURN MACHINE Filed Jan. 9, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Sept. 28, 1926.

. I iaatiaa aaraar errata.

LUTHER GATE, OF BALTINEORE, MARYLANDi JAMES B. ASHCRAFT, F LEXINGTON,

A KENTUCKY; AND ROBERT E. WAGNER, 0F AKRON, OHIO.

COIN-RETURN MACHINE.

Application filed January 9,- 1924. Serial No. 685,171.

' This invention relates to -coin-controlled apparatus and has for its object to provide an attachment adapted for use with any type of coin-controlled vending maclnne which will cause the operating coin to be returned to the purchaser in the event that the merchandise magazine of the apparatus is empty.

A further object of the invention resides in the'construction of such a device which is composed of relatively few parts and 1s therefore-simple and reliable in operation and inexpensive in manufacture.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which,

Figure 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of the apparatus.

Figure 2 is a similar View taken at a different angle and with a portion of the.

back removed. I

Figure 8 is a view similar to Figure 2 with additional parts of the casing removed. Figure 4 is a perspective view of the-slot obstructing means per se, and, Figure 5 is a fragmentary section through the coin chute, refunding chute, and related parts.

' Referring to the drawings more specifi-.

cally, the numeral 1 indicates generally the vending machine which comprises a merchandise magazine 2 and .a compartment '3 in which is located the coin control mechanism designated generally by the numeral 4. It should here be noted that the specific form of coin-controlled mechanism forms no part of the present invention and that the refunding mechanism hereafter specifically described may be employed with any of the many types of coin-controlled mechanisms in which a coin chute is employed for directing the coin to its operative position.

In the embodiment shown, a coin chute 5 is provided at thetop of the compartment 3 for directing operating coins to the coin control mechanism 4. The chute 5 is provided with a lateral opening 6 on that portion thereof which extends to the interior of the compartment 3 and communicating with this lateral opening is a refunding chute 7 as clearly indicated in Figure 5.

A bracket 8 is mounted on the inner face of the side wall of the compartment 3 adjacent the coin chute 5' and pivotally mounted in this bracket to swing in a horizontal direction is an arm 9. The arm 9 is provided with a headxlO which is adapted to be passed to the interior of the chute 5 through an opening 11 formed in the side wall of the chute. Also pivoted on the bracket 8 is a bell-crank lever 12 which has one of its arms passed through a laterally extended loop 13 formed on the lower end of the arm 9. Pivotally connected to the other arm of the bell-crank lever 12 is a link 14. The link 14 is of considerable length, and due to its weight, normally tends to swing the arm 9 about its pivot points in the bracket 8 so as to move the head 10 into the chute 5. This movement of the head, of course, obstructs the passage in the chute 5 so as to prevent the operating coin from. reaching the coin controlled mechanism and at the same time directs such coin into the refunding chute 7 which projects through the sidewall of compartment 3.

It is obvious, of course, that the arm 9 and consequently the head 10 thereon must be held retracted from the chute 5 so long as any merchandise remains in the merchandise compartment 2'. To this end we have provided a second bell-crank lever 15 having one of its arms 16 pivotally connected to the lower end of the link 14. The other arm 17 of the bell-crank lever 15 is positioned within the merchandise compartment 2 adjacent the bottom thereof. As clearly indicated in Figure 3 of the drawings, this arm 17 is normally held against the back wall of the compartment 2 by means of the bottom package of merchandise in the compartment. Such position of the arm 17 holds the link 14 in raisedposition and through the medium of the bellcrank lever 12 retains the arm 9 in retracted position.

In operation, so long as any merchandise remains in the compartment 2 provided therefore, the coin-controlled mechanism due to the weight of the link 14 which is free to slide vertically within the compartand bell-crank 15 will be caused totake place ment 3. This movement of the bell-crank l5 and link 14 will cause the bell-crank 12 to move about its pivot point on the bracket 8, thus swinging the arm 9 about its pivots in the bracket 8 and passing the head 10 through the slot 11 into the passage of the coin chute. The position of the head within the chute 5 prevents a coin later deposited in the machine from passing farther down in the chute 5 than the head 10. This obstruction of the passage of thecoin chute 5 also causes the deposited coin to pass outwardly through the lateral opening 6 in the chute 5 into the refunding chute 7 where it may be retrieved by the intended purchaser.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanying draw-- ings, it will be .-apparent that we have devised a comparatively simple and inexpensive means controlled by the presence or absence of merchandise within the merchandise compartment for not only preventing the operation of the machine when empty, with a consequent loss "of money to the intended purchaser, or at least trouble to the store keeper in returningthe equivalent sum to the intended customer, but also a means by which such coin will be directly and immediately refunded to the intended purchaser at one side of the machine.

In accordance with the patent statutes, we have described what we now believe to be the best embodiment of the invention, but we do not wish to be understood thereby as limiting ourselves or the scope of the invention, as many changes and modifications may be made Without departing from the spirit of the invention; all such we aim to include in the scope of the appendedclaims.

Having fully described the invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure Letters Patent is:

.1. A coin-controlled vending machine having a merchandise compartment and a coin chute, said coin chute having a slot in one of its walls, a refunding chute in communication with said coin chute, an arm pivoted in said machine so as to swing in a horizontal plane and having one end adapted to pass through said slot into the coin chute so as to direct coins into the refunding chute, a bell-crank lever having one arm thereof operatively connected to said pivoted arm, a link mounted for vertical sliding movement and having its upper end connected to the other arm of said bell-crank lever, said link acting through gravity to normal-- ly swing said pivoted arm into coin-obstructing position, and a second hell-crank lever having one arm connected to the lower end of said link and its other arm projecting into the merchandise compartment and normally held against movement by the merchandise in said compartment.

2. A coin-controlled vending machine having a merchandise compartment and a coin chute, said coin chute having a' slot in one vof its walls, a refunding chute in communication with said coin chute, an arm pivoted in said machine and having one end adapted to pass through said slot into the coin chute so as to direct coins into the refunding chute, a bell-crank lever having one arm thereof operatively connected to said pivoted arm, a link mounted for vertical sliding movement and having its upper end connected to the other arm of said bell-crank lever, said link acting to normally swing said pivoted arm into coin obstructing position, and a second bell-crank lever havin one arm connected to the lower end of said link and its other arm projecting into the merchandise compartment and normally held against movement by the merchandise in said compartment.

LUTHER GATE. J. B. ASHCRAFT. ROBERT E. WAGNER. 

